Bang & Olufsen completes its collection of centenary speakers with the Monarch and Zenith editions.
But make sure you're sitting down before you read the price tag.
Bang & Olufsen has been slowly unveiling a collection of luxurious speakers to celebrate the Atelier's centenary. We've seen other editions unveiled over the course of the past few months.
Now, that range is complete, with the final two models unveiled. The Beolab 90 Monarch and Zenith editions arrive in very limited numbers, to round out one of the most exclusive collections in the brand's catalogue.
These maintain the same overall shape of the other versions, but with their own design objective. Let's first take a look at the Monarch Edition, which is sculpted from rosewood, and inspired by Danish furniture design.
The top section – complete with a sextet of speakers – is crafted from a solid piece, while lamellas are used on some of the other frames to mimic to the appearance of traditional cloth speaker covers. Those are connected with wooden knots, too, for a complete overall look.
Alongside the sculpted wooden panels are a couple fronted with ochre-coloured aluminium. That offers a nice contrast with the darker wood tone, and makes for a harmonious design which should feel right at home in any modern living space.
Jumping over to the Zenith edition, the theme shifts from rosewood to pearls. Here, the six panels consist of 289 anodized aluminium spheres, each arranged in seven pearl-inspired colours.
The result is a shimmering surface which interacts with the light. It's a similar story on the top panel, though that's a machined piece which is pearl blasted, before being anodized in a dark grey hue to mimic the look of an oyster shell.
Whatever your tastebuds prefer, you'll need some pretty deep pockets – and a healthy dose of luck – to get your hands on a pair. Both of the new additions are limited to just ten pairs, and priced at an eye-watering £410,000 / €480,000 (approx. US$541,000 / AU$789,000). That's no small change, but if your pockets are deep enough, this is an awesome way to spend your cash.
